As a parent, you want your kids to eat healthier than their normal wants of chicken nuggets, fast food burgers, pizza, bags of chips, and endless supplies of soda pop and candy. It’s not easy. Just as having kids is not easy, trying to convince them to eat anything healthy can be a chore. Broccoli? I’ll pass! Vegetable Soup? Nope! Meatless tacos? Never! Stubborn junk food eating machines they are. In addition to dyes, chemicals, and ingredients you can’t even pronounce in fake foods, meat and dairy are also taking a huge hit due to the countless studies on what their products are doing to our bodies. In study after scientific study, meat and dairy are shown to be huge inflammation and cancer causing agents.

So what can we do? How can we change it up enough to make the kids interested without sighing… Eeeewww!?

As parents, sometimes I think we try too hard. Other times, something pops up that is not only healthier, but surprisingly satisfies everyone.

For quite awhile I had been reading into the health benefits of tofu. I was afraid to try it and finally pulled myself together to purchase a block of tofu three years after becoming a vegan. I made up a simple recipe and the entire family loved it even though my three sons aren’t vegan. I now have to chase them out of the kitchen when I am preparing this dish as they won’t stop trying to steal the cooked pieces of tofu. It’s simple, much healthier than their usual food choices, and super tasty. Easy is an understatement. It isn’t the perfect healthy dish, but it’s tasty and much better than processed meat and dairy foods.

I asked my 13 year old what we could call this delicious recipe and he said, “Fried Tofu”. In other words, these teenagers couldn’t care less what it’s called, just as long as it tastes good.

Vegan Tofu Stir-fry Recipe

Ingredients:

Tofu Teriyaki

1 x 12 oz. (340g) extra firm tofu

¼ cup soy sauce

½ cup flour

1 cup oil

Teriyaki Sauce

¾ cup soy sauce

1 cup water

½ tbsp ginger powder

½ tbsp garlic powder

¼ cup brown sugar

¼ cup water

2 tbsp cornstarch

Instructions:

One of the most important elements of cooking with tofu is pressing the water out. I open and drain the package and place on a paper towel lined plate. Place more paper towels on top of the tofu. Press down with another plate and some canned vegetables for weight. When the paper towels are drenched, repeat the process a few times. You can also use a regular, lint free towel and repeat. You definitely need it as dry as possible.

Chop into bite sized pieces. Add the ¼ cup of soy sauce and mix to marinate. Add ½ cup of flour and toss with the tofu. Let sit for a few minutes while heating up the oil on medium and making the teriyaki sauce. No need to season since the teriyaki will be taking center stage. If you don’t have the time to make the Teriyaki sauce, you can buy it just about anywhere, so no stress.

If you are making it per the recipe above, add all ingredients together minus the ¼ cup water and cornstarch in a small saucepan. Cook on medium until boiling. Mix ¼ cup water and cornstarch together to form a paste. Stir into mixture. Continue stirring and reduce heat to simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes.

When the oil is ready, add the tofu a couple of pieces at a time, turning over after a few minutes until browned. Remove from oil onto dry paper towels to drain.

Add to rice, sauce, and vegetables. Prepackaged rice, any sort of vegetables fresh, canned or frozen, and even pineapple will be well received, trust me. Your kids will eat this up. Tofu is high in protein, a good source of iron, and so much better for everyone than the “fake food” they would love to consume on a daily basis.

I am an Ohio vegan, mother to and proud of her three boys, with a love of all life and no tolerance for cruelty and ignorance.
I can cook up a vegan dish like mine and your lives depended on it. And it’s good. Real good. Just ask my omnivore boys.
I’ve been vegan now for over three years and I want to keep on pushing the message that veganism is more than just a choice – it’s a realisation for the future.

Kid-wrangling eight children between us! With four tweens now, we estimate we will be parenting at least one tween for the next 12 years... Does that make us experts? Well no, but it keeps us current! Hope you enjoy the site.
Min & Char x

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